Some computing systems provide collaborative environments that facilitate communication between two or more participants. A system providing a collaborative environment can allow participants to exchange live video, live audio, and other forms of data within a communication session. A collaborative environment can take on any suitable communication session format including but not limited to private chat sessions, multi-user editing sessions, group meetings, broadcasts, etc.
There are a number of drawbacks with some existing systems when it comes to the promotion of user engagement. Inefficiencies with interaction with the collaborative environment can be detrimental to user productivity and use of computing resources. When software applications do not optimize user engagement, production loss and inefficiencies with respect to computing resources can be exacerbated when a participant is unable to quickly and easily view the collaborative environment and selectively interact with the rendered content. For example, a live meeting may involve displaying an image of a participant discussing a topic, presenting materials on a display within the meeting environment, and drawing figures on a whiteboard. Existing systems lack the tools necessary to quickly and easily interact with such meeting activities. Such systems require that users perform a number of menu-driven tasks to zoom into areas of interest. For example, when a participant needs further detail on a part of the rendered meeting environment, the participant must increase the zoom of the image. However, the entire rendered image is magnified around the center of the image, and the desired zoom area may or may not be within the new magnified image. Additionally, loss of fidelity typically results. It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.